South Korean authorities apprehend scammers involved in a $4.1 million cryptocurrency fraud

Two individuals in their 20s and 30s were captured by South Korean police for defrauding an elderly man and stealing 5.5 billion South Korean won through various transactions. The Haeundae Police Station in Busan successfully apprehended the scammers, who had promised the victim substantial profits from cryptocurrency investments between September and December 2022. The fraudsters guaranteed a 70% return on a monthly investment of 1 billion won. The victim handed over a total of 5.5 billion won in six transactions, and the scammers forged balance certificates to provide false proof of investment. The police revealed that the scammers presented the victim with fake balance sheets for cryptocurrency investments and real estate contracts. Surprisingly, the fake balance sheet showed 20 billion won in cryptocurrency, even though none of the victim’s funds were actually transferred to a crypto trading account. While the police swiftly apprehended the fraudsters, details regarding the recovery of the stolen funds have not been disclosed to the public. In a separate incident, Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs and a prominent figure in the South Korean crypto industry, was reportedly released from prison in Montenegro on March 23. Kwon had faced extradition requests from the United States and South Korea and is currently facing legal accusations related to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022. The decision to release Kwon was made by the Supreme Court Council, which is expected to make a judgment regarding his possible extradition to South Korea. This news comes after four employees of South Korean crypto exchange Coinone were indicted for allegedly employing illegal methods to accumulate profits exceeding $2.26 million during coin listings from multiple projects.